Rainy Thursday MLS blogging

Because, kids, the MLS Cup is this weekend, and your humble blogger is going. This is actually my first MLS game ever, and even though I don't care much for either of the teams, I'm excited to go. I'm actually sort of going in as a neutral; I'm from Texas and all, but most Texans don't claim Houston as their own, and Boston's winning everything else this year, so I don't want to see them win MLS Cup, too. Not that either of those are really good reasons to dislike a team, but who said sports fandom was rational? I'll probably end up cheering for Houston, since the friend I'm going with has decided to support New England, and I'm contrary like that.

I'm not going to get into the whole "playoffs mean the best team doesn't win" thing, because 1) that's true of every sport, and 2) that's true of foreign cup competitions, too. Does anyone really think Liverpool were the best team in Europe in 2005? Or Milan were last year? No (or at least, they shouldn't). But that's how it works. I would have liked this final to be DC/Chivas, since they were the teams with the best overall records this season, but that's not how knockout competitions work.

I'm just thinking of this as the equivalent of the FA Cup final, and an excuse to go up to DC, drink in the stands, and tell the New England players to suck it. Because, really, isn't that what being a sports fan is all about?